1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a structure, such as a container or a mobile shelter, designed to be loaded onto a vehicle provided with a hydraulic lifting arm type handling mechanism.
2. Description of the Prior Art
These structures are built around a framework whose lower part embodies two longitudinal rails which cross below cross-members and cooperate with guide rollers at the rear of the vehicle chassis. These longitudinal rails are usually connected at the front part of the structure, to uprights, between which a bail bar is provided at a certain height. The lifting arm of the handling mechanism (described for example in French patent 2,109,109) is in the form of a telescopic boom articulated to a subframe which is connected to the chassis of the vehicle. To load a structure the boom is activated and the arm is swung towards the rear of the vehicle, a hook, carried by the free end of the boom engages the bail bar and the arm is then swung towards the front of the vehicle, during which maneuver the front of the structure is lifted and drawn towards the vehicle in an inclined position until its two bottom rails come into contact with the rollers mounted at the rear of the longitudinal rails of the vehicle. The structure's bottom rails then roll on the rollers while the structure continues to move forward, returning to the horizontal position, whereupon the boom is extended. At the end of the maneuver the structure rests on the rollers and is supported at the front by the hook connected to the free end of the lifting arm, the horizontal part of which is accommodated between the rails.
The configuration of the bottom of the structure (cross-members below which the longitudinal rails project) sometimes causes problems, especially if the structure must travel on a roller or rollerball type of the kind installed on aircraft. These types of handling decks can only cooperate with a flat and continuous surface, which means that the structure must be put on a pallet whose lower surface has these characteristics.